PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dr. Sheena Howard is a trailblazer when it comes to documenting Black history through the lens of comics.
The Southwest Philadelphia native is the first Black woman to win an Eisner Award, similar to the Oscars for comics.
"I tried to write the stories in a way that will be inspiring to the youth," Dr. Howard said.
"Every story that I wrote, I want a youth to read this, and feel like they can do whatever they want to do in life. We start from the beginning of each of these people's lives."
Related
Her latest project will be used to teach African American history to thousands of students in Philadelphia schools for years to come, as 5,000 copies of her book have been donated to the School District of Philadelphia.
"None of them had it easy," Dr. Howard said.
"They started from very little and made such a major impact right here in the City of Philadelphia and made impact beyond...and I really just want people to be inspired by these real life people. These are real life superheroes."
Her project is called "BLAM! Black Lives Always Mattered: Hidden African American Philadelphia of the Twentieth Century."
Related
"Black Lives Always Mattered! entails 14 profile pieces of historical Black leaders, most of whom lived in the city of Philadelphia," said Dr. Howard.
"W.E.B. Du Bois is featured in the book because he did the famous Philadelphia Negro study, and it features their lives and their impact on the city."
The collective project is the first graphic novel about Black historical figures from Philadelphia.
Think of it as a history book, but in comic book form.
Related
"I'm writing it in a way that will be accessible to a high school student, or even a younger student," Dr. Howard explained.
"Thinking about young people, having them on the forefront of my mind when I was writing these entries."
Howard said she wrote the book using archives from the Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University. It’s a one-of-a-kind local research facility that houses thousands of cultural artifacts related to African American history.
"They provided the research to me, until it was just a matter of me sifting through the research in crafting these stories, and I had about 10 or 11 pages for each person that is featured in the book," said Dr. Howard.
Related
The library is free and open to the public. For now, it’s the only place you can get the book.
"Maybe it will be for sale in the future, but for right now, it has a specific purpose," she added.
"Go to the library and get the book."
Philadelphia students who are slated to receive the book can expect it to come in the next week or two, the district says.
